


By the Numbers

by Fabrisse



Series: Transformations [9]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Numb3rs (TV)
Genre: F/M, Kidnapping, M/M, Mention of torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 07:53:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16058792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse
Summary: Charlie Eppes is missing.  It's being treated as a kidnapping which means the BAU can be called in.





	By the Numbers

**Author's Note:**

> This is way off canon since season 5 for _Criminal Minds_ and season 6 for _Numb3rs_ happened. I began the series way back in May 2009.

"Don, I'm sorry, but the brass …" David Sinclair's voice trailed off as his boss nodded.

"I know. I expected it. You'll be a good lead on this. You're ready." Don Epps knew his team. "Amita and Larry have been banned, too. Well, it's the same reason."

"I know. It's funny, we've gotten so used to using math, I just don't seem to know where to start." David and Don both gave wry smiles at that.

"Donnie?" They both looked up to see Alan Eppes coming off the elevator. "You're treating Charlie's disappearance as a kidnapping, right? That means you can call in those Behavioral Analysis people from Quantico, can't you?"

"Sure, Dad. It's David's call, but we have assigned profilers here. I don't think we need the BAU." Don patted his father's shoulder and gave a little eye roll toward David.

Alan shrugged him off. "David, one of Charlie's former students works for this BAU. Get him here, and he'll know how to work with you guys because he knows the math."

"You're right, Don, it's my call." David turned to Alan. "What's his name?"

***  
"Reid meet me in Rossi's office in five. Everyone else, roundtable room in fifteen." Hotch's voice was clear across the bullpen.

"Spencer's in trouble." Morgan sing-songed at him.

"Yeah, the boss wants you to meet him in your supervisor's office." Emily shook her head mock sorrowfully.

"Maybe Strauss finally got her way and I have to leave the team." Reid tried not to think about it like that. 

Emily and Morgan were immediately sobered. 

Morgan said, "Not going to happen, kid."

"Seriously, they'd lose the whole team if she tried it." Emily was adamant.

"I hope not, too. Five minutes is up." Reid walked up the stairs and knocked on Rossi's door.

***  
Hotch, Rossi, and Reid came in to the conference room and took their usual places. 

JJ began her briefing by putting a candid photo on the screen at the front of the room. "Doctor Charles Eppes is a professor of mathematics at Cal Tech. Yesterday, his family, friends, and colleagues realized no one had seen him for three days. Apparently, this wasn't completely unusual, and the first thing they did was check a few of his usual spots. He wasn't there. It came to the FBI in Los Angeles as a potential kidnapping. They called Quantico and asked 'for Doctor Spencer Reid's team.'"

"Why isn't this just a missing persons report, and a local one at that?" Morgan asked.

JJ looked to Hotch who took up the thread. "Doctor Eppes is a consultant, not just to the FBI, but to several other federal agencies."

Morgan said, "Wait a minute, Eppes, any relation to Don Eppes with the FBI? I took a course from him."

"Yes. And Professor Eppes has worked on nearly a hundred cases with Agent Eppes' team. They have a remarkably high clearance rate which they attribute to the mathematical analyses that Charles Eppes and other members of the Cal Tech faculty provide," Hotch said.

"I worked with him once. He and his partner were, I don't know, bounty hunters for the FBI. He was good, but not exactly a standard Bureau type." Emily looked thoughtful.

Hotch continued, "After looking at the few details we have of the case, I decided that Agent Sinclair, who is Don Eppes second, will get 'Spencer Reid's team.' Reid will be lead agent on this one." He sat down.

Reid stood. "Just to give you a little background, Charlie Eppes sat on my thesis review board for mathematics at Cal Tech. He was the first person to call me 'Doctor Reid,' and he's only four years older than I am. When I had to put my mother into Bennington, I became close to the whole family, but especially Alan Eppes, Charlie's father. I went to his mother's funeral which is the only time I met Don. I've been invited to Charlie's wedding."

"Taking Hotch as your 'plus one?'" Morgan wanted to know.

Reid rolled his eyes. "I just got the invitation yesterday, so I haven't asked him yet. What's more important, though, is that it means people on the West coast might have gotten theirs three or four days ago."

Rossi looked skeptical. "You think this might be about a wedding invitation?"

"My points are that I'm close to the family and that, unlike most of our cases, we have no idea who the unsub is or could be."

"We never know who the unsub is, not until we profile him," Emily said quietly.

"We usually go in knowing we're looking for an arsonist, a rapist, a serial killer, something we can hang a statistic on to start searching for our unsub. Kidnappers have a broader range of motives. Right now, I see four major possibilities if this is a kidnapping, and I'm going to ask each of you to look at one aspect of it on the plane. I've been away from mathematics for awhile. I'm going to catch up on Charlie's professional writing on the off-chance it can help us with the case. Morgan, I'd like you to go through Don Eppes' cases from his bounty hunting days. This may be someone who's going through his family to get to him. Specifically, treat them as Don Eppes' victimology, wear your obsessional crimes filter."

Morgan looked startled. "Okay, I think I see where this could go."

Reid continued. "Dave, you wrote at least one book on erotomania. It's a long shot, but Charlie's young and has good social skills -- for a geek." His smile was self-deprecating. "Maybe the wedding invitations set someone off. He had a lot of women who didn’t need his class sign up to take it. There could be a guy in the mix. As far as I know Charlie's straight, but that doesn't mean his groupies have to be."

Morgan snickered. "Math groupies." 

Reid looked at him. "MIT recruitment."

"Morgan, are you blushing?" Emily couldn't contain her giggles.

Hotch looked over at Reid, but was kept from saying anything by Kevin Lynch coming into the room. "I'm sorry, sir. Her conference is over, but I got Penelope before she boarded the plane. She's heading down to Los Angeles directly. Spencer, I'll have your e-reader loaded in about half an hour – and, no, hard copy's not an option. There was a lot more written by this Charles Eppes than I thought. Last, I was only able to get three rooms at the Marriott near the office. One's a family room which means there's a third full-sized bed in its own area off of a regular room with two queen beds. The other two -- one is a standard double queen, and the other has a king-sized bed. I'm trying to get a roll-away for the king room, but they said they're all in use."

Hotch said, "Thank you, Kevin." He nodded for Reid to continue.

"JJ, are you going to be able to come with us? I know Will's out of town testifying, but I'd like to have you with us, if possible."

She looked to Hotch. "I can get a crib for whichever room you guys put me in, but someone has to look after Henry during the day."

"Trust me?" Reid had his phone in his hand.

"Sure." JJ smiled at him, and he dialed a number.

"Alan. It's Spencer Reid. No, I'm not on the way to the airport yet. I'm briefing the team." He listened for a moment. "Look, one of my teammates has a ten month old. He can't be left alone because his father's out of town too. I'd like her there, so I was wondering if you could babysit her son while we look for yours."

Reid laughed. "I know you've changed diapers before. He's a good kid. My godson. What?" He listened again. "JJ is our media specialist. I know Don's office probably has a great one, but they're not used to the special issues that can come with having the BAU involved." There was a pause. "Because she's the best at what she does. Everyone I work with is a specialist in a field, and we're in the BAU because we're the best in our fields."

He smiled again. "Thank you. I don't know which airport we're flying into. Most likely Burbank or Van Nuys. I'll let you know as soon as the pilot tells us. No, I better not talk to Don before I get there. I'll be talking to Agent Sinclair in a few minutes. I'll tell them. Bye."

JJ looked at him. "I have a babysitter."

"At least three, from what I can tell -- Alan, Doctor Larry Fleinhardt, and Doctor Amita Ramanujan who's Charlie's fiancée."

"You really want Henry to go to Cal Tech, don't you?" JJ teased him gently.

"If you can get Henry to sleep on the plane, would you help Morgan weed through Agent Eppes' old cases?"

"Sure."

Reid turned to Emily. "You hate politics. Both things I have left are political in one sense or the other. You pick. Hotch gets the other."

"All right."

"The first is internal politics. We need to know which other agencies Doctor Eppes consulted with and we need to know if anything he was working on might have an agency keeping him under wraps."

Emily sighed. "And the other?"

"International politics. Is there anything he worked on that would be useful to terrorists or might make him a target for terrorists?"

She nodded. "Would you like me to call my mother for help with the second task?"

Reid patted her on the shoulder. "Thank you. Hotch?"

"Inter-agency politics is mine. JJ, how long will it take you to go home and grab Henry? We'll take your go bag with us from here."

"An hour at most."

Hotch gave a nod to Reid who said, "Wheels up in an hour and fifteen minutes."

As they began to file out, Hotch asked Morgan and Prentiss to stay.

Hotch began, "Strauss and I discussed a scenario like this about six months ago, letting a junior agent be the lead for the team in the field. Frankly, Morgan, with your expertise in obsessional crimes, we thought you'd probably end up with the first one."

"Terrorism is a little more rarified, I guess," Emily said.

"But, again, something that seemed more likely than a math professor with security clearances going missing." Hotch took a breath. "It's been noticed, at a level higher than Strauss', that all three BAU teams are overworked. We're only supposed to be on call one weekend in three, but the fact is, we end up working more like one in two. By two thousand eleven, the FBI hopes to have two more full teams to throw into the rotation. There's no reason why one or both of you couldn't head one."

"You're serious, Hotch."

"Absolutely."

Morgan thought for a minute. "If you stay as unit chief in that situation, chances are you won't be heading a team."

"I don't know. There are reasons why some higher-ups wouldn't want me to head an expanded unit. The exact make up of the BAU and the teams is still all up in the air. What I wanted you to know is that this team was requested because of Spencer. Dave and I discussed it and decided to let him lead."

Emily nodded. "Hotch, I'm fine with it. The fact that he gave me a choice tells me he's paid attention. Never thought I'd say this, but I should go call my mother." She glanced at Morgan who gave her a half nod.

"Morgan?"

"I'll be straight with you. I'd rather have you making the field decisions. But Reid handled Emily right, and he came up with an approach for me that I probably wouldn't have. I need to know you have our backs if there's a problem with him. I know he's friends with these people, but I don't think that's necessarily a good thing."

"I'm still unit chief. If a situation arises, I'll call him on it. " Hotch looked his subordinate in the eye. 

"Look, I know you're wondering, but, no, I don't think you handed it to him because of your relationship. After seeing you two at the Fourth of July party, I've never worried about that." Morgan took a breath. "It's also nice to know that my unit chief is looking out for my advancement. I appreciate the heads up. I'll believe it when I see the budget approved." He grinned.

Hotch gave a half smile back. "That's probably best. Go get started. I have a feeling Reid's a much sterner taskmaster than I am."

***  
It took about half an hour once they were in the air for Henry to get to sleep. Hotch came across to talk to Reid. Rossi joined them.

"We need to set the sleeping arrangements," Hotch said.

Reid looked up from the e-reader. "You get the king room, the women share 'the family room' and Rossi and Morgan get to argue over who snores louder while I put in ear plugs on the floor."

Rossi said, "That's ridiculous. Even with a roll-away the logical place to put it is the king room. Morgan and I already talked. Neither of us likes rollaways, so we'll take the standard double. No one is going to worry about whether or not you sleep on the floor, Spencer."

Spencer looked directly at him. "Strauss has threatened Aaron's job if we share a room, much less a bed, in the field. I'm not going to give her ammunition."

"Reid, what has Director Evans told you about us?" Hotch was genuinely curious.

"You mean, do I know we're being watched as part of a pilot program to allow couples to work together? Yes, John told me."

"Then when it's appropriate, and I'd argue that being one bed short makes this appropriate," Rossi said, "You should act like a couple. Share the bed. If a two bed room opens up later in the case, we can switch it around, but right now, don't be idiots." He stalked off and went back to his files.

"I'd come to the same conclusion," Hotch said.

Reid leaned in and lowered his voice. "I'm just worried we won't sleep."

Hotch gave a half grin. "MIT recruitment?"

"Ask Morgan, and remember we weren’t involved then. Tell me afterward what you think. I've asked Alan to meet us at the hotel. He'll probably bring Amita, Larry, and Don with him." Reid returned smoothly to his professional demeanor.

"What's the plan?"

"Ask as few questions as possible while they're all together. Separate them into different interviews as unobtrusively as we can."

"I should probably take Don Eppes." Hotch was surprised to see Reid shake his head.

"Morgan is covering Don's old cases. Unless there's an immediate personality clash, I think he should take Agent Eppes. JJ will end up with Alan by default, since she has to introduce him to Henry."

"How do you want the rest of us to handle it, then?"

Reid looked at him. "If Agent Sinclair is there, I want you to talk to him about his team. Get a feel for them before we walk in tomorrow morning. If not, help JJ with Alan. I think he'll need parents to talk with."

"All right. What about the other two?"

"My first thought is to ask Garcia to talk to Doctor Ramanujan. Amita's specialty is computer systems, so it would give them a chance to bond. But, Garcia's not a field agent. I'm debating whether to ask Emily to talk with them, maybe guide the questions when Garcia wanders astray, or whether to have her work with Rossi on talking to Doctor Fleinhardt."

Hotch looked puzzled. "Why would Dave need to talk to Doctor Fleinhardt?"

"Larry and Charlie have been friends, well, since before Charlie got his doctorate. Parents might know the serious relationships, but friends are more likely to know the, uh, frivolous ones. I've already given Dave the names of the two women I know Charlie was involved with."

"You haven't met Charlie's fiancée before?"

Reid shook his head. "Charlie emails me maybe every other month. Alan I hear from once every couple of weeks. Larry, if I hear from him twice a year, it's a shock, but when he writes or calls it's always … profound."

"Profound?"

"The last phone call I had from Larry -- I mean we've written to each other since, it's not the last contact I had -- he was on the International Space Station. He got to make three phone calls in six months, and I know he only called me because the first number he dialed was busy, but … " It was rare for Reid to be at a loss for words.

"The Space Station?" Hotch took in the awe on his lover's face and put his hand over Spencer's. "Profound."

They sat quietly for a moment. Finally, Reid said, "Any suggestions? Do I put Prentiss with Garcia or Rossi?"

"Garcia. Emily won't get too lost on the computer stuff, and she's good at reading how much to push in questioning someone. If I'm off with Morgan or JJ, you should probably be the second ear on Rossi's conversation. Will Doctor Fleinhardt understand you're an FBI agent first in this matter?"

"More than Alan will." He cocked his head at Hotch. "Now go and read your redacted files while I finish catching up on Charlie's professional publications."

Hotch laughed. "Yes, sir."

***  
Reid's prediction proved to be wrong; they landed at LAX. David Sinclair introduced himself to Hotch who then introduced the rest of the team. 

Hotch, Rossi, and Reid took the car with Sinclair. Morgan was introduced to Colby Granger who drove him, Emily, and JJ with Henry to the hotel.

Once they were in the car, David Sinclair started talking. "I'm not entirely certain why I called in the BAU. This isn't a typical case for you."

"I once told someone that I'd never known a normal day in my entire life. I think I can safely say, there's no such thing as a typical case for the BAU." Reid hoped he was reassuring.

Sinclair glanced at the young man in the passenger seat. "Your tech analyst said you'd get started first thing tomorrow, can't you start tonight?"

From the back, Rossi said, "It's already after eight our time. By the time we've eaten, discussed our strategies and findings over dinner, we're going to need to rest. If this were five hours after a kidnapping, we might prioritize differently, but he's three days gone with no ransom note. He's either already dead or whoever has him wants him alive."

"Yeah. We're starting this whole thing too late." Sinclair hit the steering wheel once with his fist.

"And what I didn't mention is that we are going to be working tonight. Reid's arranged for the Eppes to meet us at the hotel. He's already told us who should talk to whom and on what subjects."

Sinclair glanced at Reid. "You don't really think they're involved in any way?"

"I think one or more of them may know something that they didn't notice which could be relevant to finding Charlie. I also know that if we end up with the case going to trial, we have to show we interviewed the obvious suspects and dismissed them for logical reasons."

"Of course. I know that."

"When it's a friend, sometimes it's hard to think like an investigator." Hotch spoke up from the back seat.

Sinclair nodded. "Is there anything my team can do to get the ball rolling faster?"

"Have you pulled the files on every case Charlie worked on?" Spencer asked.

"Just the ones that aren't dead or in prison."

"Then have your team finish pulling all of them. I want to read them. It could be a relative or friend of one of the ones that's dead or in prison." Reid was emphatic.

"It's over a hundred boxes. Are you sure?" Sinclair pulled into the driveway in front of the hotel.

"If you get them pulled tonight, I promise I'll come in around eight thirty and begin going through them. The whole team will be in by seven tomorrow."

Hotch chuckled as he got out of the car. "Garcia will love that. She's even less of a morning person than you are."

Garcia had come through the doors from inside the hotel and overheard him. "I may not be a morning person, O wondrous leader, but I have checked all of us in."

He pointed to Reid. "He's the wondrous leader on this case."

"Of course, my genius will find our lost lamb. I always thought Professor Eppes looked like a lamb -- often one that needed shearing."

Sinclair interrupted. "Did you know Charlie, too?"

"I left Cal Tech in the middle of my sophomore year, but I took two classes with Doctor Eppes before my departure."

Reid made the introductions. "Garcia is our technical analyst. This is SSA Sinclair who's heading this investigation from the L.A. side."

"So nice to meet you Agent Sinclair. I hope you don't mind if I pass out keycards."

"Not at all."

She handed one to Rossi, "I understand you will be rooming with Morgan. They got here a few minutes ago, so he's already picking the best bed. These go to your room." She handed one each to Hotch and Reid with a wicked smile on her face. "I had them put the crib in the separate room in our suite-thingy. I love my godson, but not at three in the morning."

Reid smiled. "I feel the same way." He flagged down a bellman. "Hotch?"

"No problem. I'll have everyone meet down here in half an hour." 

Rossi added his to the bellman's cart just as Reid said, "Can you make it fifteen? The Eppes are already here."

Hotch and Rossi followed his sightline. Hotch nodded. "Fifteen minutes."

Reid turned to Sinclair, "Can you stall them for a minute? I need to brief Garcia."

"Of course. I'll see you and your team at eight-thirty."

"I'll be there. I may bring one or two of the others with me, but don't expect the full team until tomorrow morning." Reid wanted to make certain he was clear.

He pulled Garcia aside and explained what had been discussed on the plane and which questions she would need to ask Doctor Ramanujan.

Then they walked over and greeted the Eppes family.

***  
When Hotch came down with the others a few minutes later, Reid invited him over. "Hotch, this is Robyn with the US Attorney's office. She's dating Agent Eppes." He turned to her and said, "My boss here was a prosecutor before joining the FBI."

Hotch gave him a nod and drew her away from the group to begin his soft interrogation.

"I know how this works, Agent Hotchner." Robyn raised one eyebrow as they sat at the bar.

"I don't doubt it, but you also know we're the best chance of finding Charlie Eppes." He flagged the bartender. "What would you like?"

She glanced at the wine list on the bar. "A glass of Orvieto and a glass of water."

"Maker's Mark, neat. And bring us a large bottle of Evian to split rather than tap water."

"An FBI agent drinking on duty?"

"An off-duty agent asking someone a few questions." He wrote out a brief note and gave it to a passing waitress to take to Spencer.

"I don't know Charlie as well as I know Alan or even Amita, in some ways."

Hotch nodded and paid for their drinks. "Which means you could be the best observer."

***  
Reid made the introductions necessary. After a big hug from Alan, which had surprised most of his teammates, he was able to direct him over to JJ. He was captivated by Henry, and they wandered upstairs to see if they could get him to sleep.

Amita and Garcia had seemed to make an immediate connection. Emily was with them gently guiding the conversation.

Don remembered Morgan, and they were off at a table talking about Don’s FBI work.

Reid went to join Dave who was looking very bemused by Larry Fleinhardt. 

David Sinclair stopped him. "What can I do?"

"Nothing really until it's time to go to the office. Have you eaten?"

"Not hungry."

"As Hotch once reminded me, hunger interferes with brain function. Eat. Make sure your team has eaten. I'll be ready to go to your office by seven forty-five."

Sinclair nodded. "Get something to eat yourself. It's going to be a long night."

Reid watched him walk off and was handed a note by a waitress. He tipped her, read it, and then had her go to Emily with a note from him. "Also, take a 'to go' dinner order from Ms Prentiss, then come back for the same from me. Thank you."

She looked at the size of the tip, and smiled. "Of course, sir."

He sat down with Larry and Rossi. 

"Really, Spencer, Charlie's love life?"

"We don't know when he was taken, by whom, or for what reason. It may be a low probability, but it has to be explored -- if only so we can explain to a judge why we eliminated the possibility at trial."

Larry looked at Rossi. "If you'd explained that, I would have been more forthcoming."

The waitress came by.

Dave glanced at Hotch then at Reid who nodded. "You have Talisker? I'll have that with a flat water on the side."

"Milk." Larry said, not noticing the look he got from Rossi.

Reid grinned. "I'll have the same. Could I get the roast beef sandwich on whole wheat to go. Sliced tomatoes on the side. And an iced coffee with the sandwich. Please put Ms Prentiss order on my bill." He handed her a credit card.

"Milk. At a bar. I told Aaron you had brass ones."

"I'd love to know the context of that conversation," Reid said.

Larry said, "Bars usually have it. It's a mixer."

The waitress returned with their drinks, and Reid signed the receipt. He turned to Larry. "Rossi just doesn't believe there are people who don't drink. He knows I'm not one of them, but I'm going into the local office to read files later."

Larry nodded to himself. "I believe you know Megan Reeves?"

Reid shook his head. "I'm not familiar with the name."

Rossi said, "Reeves. Damn. I trained her. She was one of the first women to work as a profiler. She was good. Beautiful, too. It was a pleasure to come to work in the morning while she was there." He noticed the other two staring at him. "How do you know her?"

"She was on Don's team for a couple of years. We dated for most of that time. The FBI asked her to do some interrogations at Guantanamo. She left the Bureau soon after."

Rossi asked, "Are you still in touch with her? I'd like to hear another profiler's insights into Doctor Eppes."

"I'll ask her if she minds. She may prefer to talk to someone she doesn't know, too." He gave a pointed glance at Reid.

"That's fine. I would like to say 'hi' to her if she's amenable. I liked Megan."

The waitress came back with his and Emily's dinners. He tipped her generously and then caught Emily's eye. "I'll leave you to it. Larry, Dave's going to ask questions you're not going to like. I can't promise it won't get back to Alan or Amita, but I can promise you, it won't come from my team."

"If Charles comes back to us, I'll tell him everything I told you. If he doesn't, it hardly affects him. Can you stay for a day or two when the case is over? I've missed you."

"I'll ask Hotch, but if a new case hasn't already dragged us cross-country again, I'd like to catch up with you, too." He picked up his meal and walked over to Sinclair and Emily.

"The Spencer I knew wasn't so guarded. Jason Gideon has a lot to answer for." 

Rossi was surprised to hear the vehemence in Doctor Fleinhardt's voice. "If it helps, I agree with you. I count on Spencer Reid every day. He's one of the toughest men I know, but Jason Gideon had no business recruiting him."

For the first time Rossi saw Fleinhardt smile. "I understand even small data points can be helpful to show a trend. I'll answer any questions as fully as I can."

"All right, then."

***  
Sinclair brought them in and set them up in what he thought of as "Charlie's area." 

The introductions had gone as well as could be expected. As a member of Don Eppes' team, it was weird having the other looking to him for leadership, but there was also the Charlie element -- not just that one of their own was the putative victim, but on some level they looked to Charlie for a different kind of leadership.

As they'd entered, Reid had asked him to assign someone to answer case questions. "Actually, not all of us worked every case. I think Colby and I have worked the most, but there are workshops to attend, vacations to take…"

Reid held up his hands with a smile. "I get it. It can't be you, so put Colby with me and tell him to expect some odd questions."

"We're all going to stay, just in case we can add anything. As I said, not all of us have been on every case."

Prentiss sat down beside him. "What's your take on Doctor Eppes? I know Colby thinks he's a little odd."

"A little? But Colby respects him."

"I don't doubt that. And I think anyone who's met Doctor Fleinhardt recalibrates their oddness scale." She said it with such a warm smile, he couldn't help but understand her meaning.

"Yeah. The two of them together can be like a couple of kids. You wouldn't believe what they get up to."

"Reid does physics magic when we're having a slow day at the office."

"I like Charlie. I like Amita. And Alan's become like a second father to me. I can't think about what happens if we're too late, or that we might already be too late."

"I know."

They were interrupted by one of the other agents. "Dave, have you seen what this Spencer guy is doing? He's just running his hand down each page in the reports. Does he think touching them is going to tell him anything?"

Sinclair looked at Prentiss. "Allow me to introduce you to Nikki Betancourt. She joined us last year from the LAPD. Nikki this is SSA Prentiss of the BAU."

Prentiss shook her hand. "He reads several thousand words a minute with a ninety percent retention rate."

"So you just keep him for the reading while everyone else does the work." She was smiling as she said it.

"No. Reid's best at geographic profiling, but he does field work."

They watched as Colby called Liz into the room with Reid. "And it looks like he's doing an interview."

Nikki turned to Emily. "So, rumor has it that a BAU agent was captured by a suspect a couple of years ago? Is it true? Was it your team?"

Emily's face went cold. "Yes to both." She turned to David. "Agent Sinclair, it might be useful if I could get each of your team members impressions of working with Doctor Eppes. Would you mind if I started with you?"

Sinclair nodded. "Sure. I'll pull Colby out when I'm done and then you can talk to Liz. Nikki last since she's known him the least amount of time."

Nikki looked between the two more senior agents. "Well, I'll just leave you two to the interview. I look forward to talking with you later, Agent Prentiss."

"Agent Betancourt."

Dave waited until she was out of earshot. "Nikki's good. She just hasn't learned the difference between being a street cop and being an agent yet."

That got a smile out of Emily. "I'll take your word for it. Now, tell me your opinion of Charles Eppes."

***  
Emily looked through the glass into the office Reid was using. The three piles he was dividing the evidence boxes into were becoming more pronounced. It would probably be less than another hour before they could return to the hotel. She checked her watch. It was barely after ten local time. It felt later, and not just because she was on East coast time.

Nikki Betancourt was back. "Look, I didn't mean to offend you earlier, but anyone who can survive something like what that agent did, I've got to admire. I mean, I'm pretty sure it's not you because, honestly, if it was a woman, someone would have mentioned it."

"Yes. We're still rare enough." Prentiss gave her a tight smile. "Right now, though, I need you to tell me about Charlie Eppes." 

"The Professor? I thought they were all a little strange when I first joined. I mean, I thought the FBI was going to be more like the street, but smarter. But Doctor Eppes, the kind of analysis he does, or Amita or Larry … I never really 'got' the superbrain kids in school. I worked hard, got good grades, but I wasn't like them. And watching Charlie come up with an algorithm makes me feel like that again. It's the sense of wonder they have that makes them different, let's them find these 'out there' solutions. Most of the time, they really are solutions. You know what it's like with your Doc on the team." She nodded her head toward the room where Reid was talking to Sinclair.

Nikki turned back to her. "Do you mind? Working with him?"

"Spencer Reid is a good agent and an invaluable member of the team."

"Yeah, but you know, I've got nothing against gays, but it doesn't feel right having them in law enforcement."

Prentiss hid her shock well. She rejected her first thought, which was to say, "You mean Sinclair's straight?" since not everyone understood her sense of humor.

"Honestly, we don't talk about our sex lives all that much."

"Yeah, I guess the BAU doesn't have time for gossip." She shook her head. "I don't believe it, that's the last box."

Emily gave her first genuine smile of the night. "Great. I really need to get some sleep."

Reid came out. "Agent Betancourt." He turned to Prentiss. "David's let us sign out one of the SUVs. We can drive ourselves in tomorrow."

"It'll be a pretty full car."

"Think Morgan will mind the roof rack?" 

***  
Garcia was still talking to Amita and Larry in the bar when Reid and Prentiss returned.  
Amita offered Larry a ride home, and the others went to the elevators. 

Prentiss asked Garcia if she'd found anything, and the results were a flow of pure computer science theory. Reid laughed.

"Oh, you mean about the case. Not much, she's quiet, but I think she really loves him. The hardest thing for her and Professor Fleinhardt was that they didn't notice. Professor Eppes hasn't really gone walkabout much in the past couple of years, not since he started working with the Bureau, so they think they should've realized sooner that it wasn't normal."

Reid nodded. "Charlie generally got word to someone if he was going missing for more than three days or if he was going missing mid-week. Had anyone checked with his TA? I did that for awhile and I tended to know more about Charlie's whereabouts than his parents did."

"I assume you're going to assign one of us to go to CalTech tomorrow," Prentiss said. "If no one did at the time, we can ask."

Whatever Reid was about to say was interrupted by the door to his room opening. 

Hotch looked at Reid before turning to Prentiss and Garcia and saying pointedly, "Good night, Emily. Good night, Penelope."

Prentiss nodded and started down the hall to their room.

Garcia blinked a few times. "'Night, Hotch." She barely had time to say it before the door snicked shut.

***  
JJ was sitting in the chair reading a file when they came in.

"I assume my godson's asleep?"

"Yes. Why are you looking so excited?"

Emily laughed. "I don't think she's seen Hotch ready for bed before."

Garcia giggled. "I thought my honeys were built, but bossman looks good in a tight tee shirt."

JJ nodded with a small smile. "It's the only thing that makes having to wake him up in the middle of the night worth it. I wish Will had biceps like that. Don't get me wrong, I love my s.o..."

"And Kevin's the only man for me, but we can still look. Damn. I wish I had a feed in their room." She turned to Emily. "Did you see the look they gave each other? I expected to hear a body against the door rather than a quiet click."

Emily had stretched out on her bed and closed her eyes. "Did Doctor Ramanujan let you have coffee this late at night?"

JJ's shoulders shook.

Garcia looked affronted. "No. But didn't you see that look?"

Emily propped herself on her elbows. "I hate to say it, JJ, but the giggling wench in the other bed is right. All I saw was their hands brush against each other, and I swear it was hotter than most pornos."

"I'd rather not speculate about their sex life -- mostly because I don't want them speculating about mine." JJ got up to head into hers and Henry's alcove. "The call is breakfast at six and bring your notes and any files or equipment you need to the breakfast table. We're leaving straight from the restaurant."

Emily sighed. "I'm setting the alarm for five, Garcia. Half an hour in the gym and a half hour to dodge you two in the morning."

"All right. You take the bathroom first tonight. I'll bathe so all I have to do in the morning is make-up and stuff." Garcia stretched back. 

***  
It took all his self control to wait until the door was firmly shut before sliding his hand to Spencer's neck and pulling him close for a kiss.

Spencer's hands were under his shirt tracing electric patterns over his skin. 

Aaron pulled back enough to tug his tee shirt off and then he went straight to the knot in Spencer's tie. Spencer kept kissing him, stroking his bare skin, making him forget what he was doing.

Finally, Spencer broke away with a needy little noise and got his clothes off quickly. He lay back on the bed with his thighs apart, eyes black with desire. "Get those pants off and come here right now."

Aaron smiled as he complied. "Yes, sir." He stretched over his lover and revelled in the sensations of their bodies rubbing together. The brush of Spencer's lips along his collarbone made him gasp.

Spencer pressed a condom and lube into his hands and spread his legs wider.

It wasn't their usual way, but Spencer seemed so eager that Aaron just smiled and planted a quick kiss on each nipple.

He waited to see some sign of hesitation, a small wince or a moment where their connection broke, but Spencer just moaned and writhed and begged for Aaron to fuck him. He slid in and felt Spencer relax beneath him. There was a satisfied smile on his face and Aaron sped up his rhythm just seeing it. 

He tried to slide his hand between them, but Spencer nipped his bicep to make him stop. They stared into each others' eyes for a moment, then Aaron pushed himself up on his hands and drove into Spencer. The heat and slick tightness felt so good. When Spencer's legs wrapped around him, the pressure in his balls built up and he came hard.

Spencer stroked his sweat soaked skin to bring him down after orgasm. Aaron withdrew and looked at his lover savoring the open lust, the smooth skin, the jutting cock all waiting for him to do something. He knew what Spencer wanted and he eased himself into a comfortable position to take Spencer's cock in his mouth.

This was the hard part for Aaron. His body responded so deeply to being fucked -- he remembered a night less than a month ago when he'd literally gotten on his knees and begged for Spencer to fuck him -- that he couldn't believe he'd lived most of his life without feeling a stiff cock inside him most nights. Somehow, though, sucking another man made him feel vulnerable, even as it turned him on.

Spencer never asked. Aaron thought about how open Spencer was to him, and swirled his tongue around the crown. He sucked hard, stroking the shaft in a rhythm he knew was right. 

"I'm, God, Aaron. I'm about to come."

He heard the need, and just said, "Yes," before engulfing the cock in front of him again. His cheeks hollowed and he heard a sound almost like a bark as spunk shot into his mouth. Aaron swallowed reflexively and let Spencer pull him up and into a deep kiss.

As they fit themselves together for sleep, Aaron said, "I can't believe I'm going to have to shower _before_ going to the gym."

"It's not a requirement."

"And have Morgan and Prentiss, maybe JJ too, notice that I reek of sex?"

"I'm feeling possessive right now. I want everyone to know it's my scent on your skin."

Aaron hugged him close. "They already know I have the sexiest lover in the world. Why rub their noses in it?"

He felt a soft kiss to his shoulder before they both drifted off to sleep.

***  
Over breakfast the next morning, each of them shared their discoveries about the team they would be working with.

Reid handed out the assignments. "Morgan, I pulled the cases Charlie's worked on that have people out on parole or pending trial. In three instances, the cases ended with the death of the suspect, but the family or friends have either made threats or have backgrounds that warrant deeper investigation. There are only twelve total out of the hundred cases Charlie's worked on. I also made a larger pile of cases that have oddities in the file. Please take Liz Warner and go through those cases. I'm sorry to hand you desk work." 

"Not a problem. I do expect time at the beach when the case is over though." Morgan grinned.

"Talk to the Unit Chief about that." Reid smiled back.

"Emily was there any international player that seemed likely from your talk with your mother?"

"Not really. Certainly not at an embassy level. If you don't have another assignment for me, I would like to visit the Pakistani consulate and, possibly, the Kuwaiti consulate as well. Mother mentioned a couple of NGOs that may want his expertise in relationship theory."

"Sinclair or Colby? Colby was in Afghanistan and speaks a little Arabic in addition to Afghani."

"But Sinclair looks more presentable," Emily quipped. "Colby's the logical choice, especially if Sinclair needs to make decisions for his team."

Reid nodded. "Hotch, what about the various agencies?"

"I think we should back-burner it. If none of the other profiles fit our evidence, we can come back to it. However, none of my official or unofficial queries panned out. As best I could tell the results are genuine."

"All right, then can you go with Liz, Rossi, and Betancourt to Pasadena? Cal Tech is a huge school, and it's at least somewhat likely that he was taken on campus. If you can get Alan and Amita's permissions to go through Charlie's things, then keep Liz or Betancourt to help you. The other two can take Doctor Fleinhardt to the campus. If not, then having you to talk to the department head and university president gives them more time to interview people like Charlie's TAs and students."

"Sounds good."

***  
Colby was silent on the way to the Pakistani consulate. Emily let him drive, since he knew the city. 

She’d worn a scarf today, and, once they’d parked, Emily pulled it loosely over her hair. She caught Colby’s look, and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll wear it more like a hijab for the Kuwaitis.”

“I... I guess I wasn’t sure why you were pulled for this duty.”

“You could have asked on the drive.” Emily sighed. “I’m a diplomat’s kid. I speak good Arabic for the next stop, but I hear you speak a couple of Afghani dialects.”

“Including a couple that cross the border with Pakistan. Yeah. Which of us takes the lead when we get inside.”

“If I’d been thinking, I’d’ve done the driving so you could review the folder. Since I was remiss, tap my foot with yours if you think I’m going off in a direction that could offend our hosts. The Consul has already requested the representatives of three NGOs who work with microfinance in Punjab and Sindh to speak with us at the consulate. Doctor Eppes helped with microfinance algorithms which allowed them to pick good risks for the loans.”

“Maybe someone wants them to fail. Maybe someone didn’t get one of the loans...” Colby nodded to himself. “Makes sense that Charlie could be a target from that. Not likely, though.”

“No, it isn’t. But without further information from Charlie’s abductor, we have to explore every avenue.”

Colby looked at her over the roof of the car. “I know he’s not in any of his usual spots, and I know he loves Amita, but I gotta say, I think he may have cold feet. Took a three week cruise to Alaska or flew to Fiji to get his head straight.”

“I hope you’re right, but if he did, it’s not under his own name or the name of any famous mathematician. Garcia checked. She’s looking at other possibilities in case he went away to work more deeply on cognitive emergence. Don’t mention the cold feet theory to her. She likes Amita, and Pen’s a romantic at heart.”

They headed into the consulate.

***  
An hour later they had nothing that seemed like a lead. While Colby checked the GPS on his phone to make certain none of the streets to the Kuwaiti Embassy were blocked, Emily’s phone rang.

“That’s terrible. No, I had the ringer off while I was in the consulate. It’s still better news than we expected. Of course, we’ll head to Cal Tech straight away.”

Colby asked, “What’s the terrible good news?”

“Alan and Amita got a finger this morning. The good news is forensics is positive it was fresh just a couple of hours ago.”

Colby shook his head. “He’s alive or was this morning. That’s good.”

“Whoever has him, has escalated. That’s not.”

***  
The drive to Pasadena was spent on speaker phone with Garcia. She conferenced Hotch in and they were deputed to swing by and pick up Rossi and Betancourt while Hotch took charge at the Eppes home with Liz to help. 

"What are you thinking, Reid?"

"I hope that the demands will come soon. The finger was the ring finger on the left hand, so I'm assuming it's someone who opposes his marriage. If you can talk to the Provost's office to get class lists for Charlie, I'm going to say start with anyone who's taken multiple classes."

Colby said, "Concentrate on women?"

There was a pause. Reid said, "Hard to tell. Women tend to use less overt violence, though that's changing, but whoever has him it's more likely to have an erotic component based on the ring finger which is why I say look for multiple classes. Have Rossi talk to Larry again to see if Charlie mentioned any of them having a crush or exhibiting disturbing behavior."

Emily said, "And check with the TAs, right?" 

"Colby, do you or Betancourt know his TAs?"

"Not really."

Reid said, "All right, then, yes, Emily you tackle the administrators, and Colby, you work with Betancourt on collating the class lists. Unless you know of any other professors we should be talking to?"

"Rivals?" Colby said, "Not really. Charlie's the department head now. If that was the reason, I think we'd have seen it sooner."

"Then sorry to drop the collating on you. Liz can take the TAs, then come back here. I'm leaving Hotch with Don and Amita because …"

Colby said, "Because Don might try to investigate and none of the rest of us outrank him."

"That obvious?" Reid asked.

Colby chuckled. "Don is."

"In the meantime, Sinclair and I have forwarded all calls to the FBI office. Alan's babysitting Henry at the hotel. JJ has been fielding phone calls, but it’s mostly local press so far."

Emily said, "We'll call you when we have something to report."

"I'll do the same."

***  
The phone call came in at noon. Amita answered and the caller hung up. The second call, a minute later was picked up by Don. He signaled Hotch who called Reid.

"… he's with me now. You won't get him back," were the first words Reid heard when he broke into the call.

"This is Special Agent Reid with the BAU. If Charlie doesn't want to come back, he doesn't have to, but we need to be certain it's his choice."

"Where are you?"

Reid said, "I'm at the FBI office in Los Angeles."

"Have you met _her_?"

"If you're talking about Doctor Ramanujan, no, I saw her in passing last night, but we've never spoken. What's your name?"

"I don't have to tell you."

"No, you don't have to give me a real one, either. It just makes it easier to talk."

"She's a witch. She bewitched him away from me."

Reid wrote, 'Get Morgan to listen in' on a pad and waved it under Sinclair's nose. Sinclair nodded and went to get the other agent.

"Jenny. You can call me Jenny."

"All right, Jenny, I need proof that Doctor Eppes is still alive."

"You think I'd hurt him?" she yelled.

"It doesn't matter what I think. I have to prove to the bureau that Doctor Eppes is with you of his own free will before we can call off the search."

Jenny said, "He told me you could trace the call in five minutes. I set the timer for four, and it's nearly up."

"Why don't you send me thirty seconds of video? You can use Charlie's phone so that we can't trace it back to you. Have him show today's paper and say something about his latest research. I'll give you my cell phone number." He gave her his bureau phone’s number quickly, repeating it for clarity.

"Okay, I can do that."

"I'll need it within the hour, Jenny."

"Sure, Agent Reid."

He heard a click as she hung up.

"Garcia?"

"Yes, my lovely. I was able to trace the call. Unfortunately, it's a block of payphones near Venice Beach."

Sinclair said, "I'll call LA County and get someone to keep an eye on them, just in case she comes back."

Reid nodded. 

Garcia said, "I've also got an automatic trace set for Professor Eppes GPS when his phone is turned back on. Good idea, but I won’t be able to pinpoint with less than a minute."

"I assume you have software to run analysis on background noises and such. The repeater towers may not give us a small enough range."

"Ready and waiting." Garcia patted him on the shoulder and left the room as Morgan came in.

"Let Liz know what you want for lunch, Baby girl. She's calling in an order."

"I'll have a BLAT on wheat toast," Reid said.

"Yes, my genius."

Morgan sat down. "Our unsub definitely shows signs of obsession."

"Could it be erotomania?"

Morgan shook his head. "Impossible to know until after we've seen her medical records. Within Cal Tech, Doctor Eppes is pretty high status, so it's possible."

Reid said, "What are the chances that she gave her real name?"

"Pretty high, when you consider that she believed it would take us five minutes to trace a call."

"That's because Charlie said it. If it's obsessive love, then she can be convinced he doesn't love her which means she goes into a destructive phase and kills him. If it's erotomania, then her delusion could protect Charlie. Even if he says 'no' she'll read it as a yes."

Morgan said, "For a little while, maybe, but ultimately she could break and kill him."

"What did you make of her calling Amita a witch?"

Morgan said, "That's the only part that makes me lean toward a full-blown mental disorder."

Reid asked, "Can we play on that? She seemed to think that Amita could control any man she met."

"Jenny did seem to relax when you said you hadn't."

"When she calls back, can I use that?"

Morgan said, "Maybe. Let's listen to the call again."

***  
Reid was taking the last bite of his sandwich when the message came through on his FBI cell phone. Morgan called Garcia and confirmed that she had a lock on Charlie's GPS chip. It wasn’t pinpoint, but it definitely confirmed and narrowed the section of the Venice beach area. A few minutes later, there was another call to the Pasadena number. Hotch answered it, and Reid came on the line almost immediately.

Jenny said, "You're still separate from _her_ , Agent Reid?"

"I'm still in Los Angeles. I still haven't met Doctor Ramanujan."

"Four minutes."

"Thank you for sending me the video. I can see that you've been taking care of him, but Doctor Eppes seems a little unfocussed."

"I'm just trying to break her spell so that he remembers."

Reid looked at Morgan who nodded. "Perhaps I can help with that. I have some powers of my own."

Jenny scoffed into the phone. "Sure you do."

"Gay men were often seen in other cultures as facing both sides of the gender divide and therefore in contact with supernatural forces. I am certain that even if I had met Doctor Ramanujan that I could resist her."

Jenny said, "You're gay?"

"Yes Ms Cowan, I am."

She gasped. "You know my name."

"Names have power. I know yours. You can trust me. If we meet, I can help break the spell on Doctor Eppes."

"Charlie's been saying he's hungry, but I needed him purged of her."

"That's an excellent first step, but now it's time for the second. Let him wash. Use a plain soap to get her off of him. Then, simple controlled nourishment, chicken broth, lettuce or spinach, rice, things that won't upset his digestive system and will help bring him back to himself, to you."

"Four minutes," she said and hung up.

Garcia came in quickly. "Another payphone, but this one was nearer to Marina del Rey."

"Thanks, Garcia. Anything from the background in the video?"

"The techs think the movement of the video isn't her. They may be on a boat. The GPS reading seemed a little off, so if they were moving offshore…"

Reid nodded. "That fits. Let me know if there's anything else. And please get both teams in here. She's going to call back, and we need to have a plan of action."

"You got it."

He turned to Morgan. "So, how do we infiltrate a boat in one of the busiest parts of Los Angeles County?"

"Very carefully," Morgan said.

***  
“What do you mean, Don’s not here? Where else would he be with the professor gone AWOL?”

Sinclair ran up to the man and said, “Agent Edgerton, we called in the BAU. Don couldn’t handle the case with his personal connection.”

“BAU?” The man looked around the room and walked over to Hotch. “Hotchner, right? We worked together briefly while you were with SWAT.”

“I remember, Agent Edgerton. Allow me to introduce the team. Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan, Jennifer Jareau, and the one reviewing data is Spencer Reid. He’s lead on this case. This is Ian Edgerton, the best sniper in the FBI.”

The rest of the team greeted him and Reid said, “Sniper? Agent Edgerton, would you mind working with Colby, Liz, and Morgan? We’re trying to set up a meeting with the kidnapper, but we’re putting contingencies in place, too.”

Edgerton blinked once and said, “Sure. Anything for the professor.”

***  
It took three more phone calls, all of them from payphones near Marina del Rey, for them to set up a meeting with Jenny. Reid was insistent that Charlie had to be nearby, preferably visible from a distance, to establish that he was with her of his own free will. Colby was leading an underwater group, including Morgan, to try to infiltrate the Spinning Jenny, the boat they’d been able to pinpoint as belonging to a friend of Ms Cowan’s which was currently registered in Marina del Rey. Betancourt was coordinating with the Los Angeles county police. Rossi was the linchpin with Garcia, he’d be in Reid’s ear letting him know how things were progressing with the other sections. Sinclair and Edgerton had found buildings with good sightlines to set up as snipers in case they were needed. Prentiss was with Amita and Larry near the scene, but out of the way of the unsub. Don and Alan had been ordered to stay with JJ at the FBI. There was an ambulance nearby waiting to see what might be needed.

Hotch concentrated on scene clearance and was to be, along with Liz, the agent most immediately in the vicinity in case Reid needed help.

Reid was going to meet with the kidnapper. 

***  
"You know, the FBI could have saved money by just not issuing you a Kevlar vest." 

"Hotch." He looked into his team leader's eyes and saw his lover instead. "Aaron. I wear it more often than I don't. This has to be me."

Hotch held out his arms and took the heavy vest from him. "I know. Don't block the shot."

Spencer handed over his gun. "I'll block Charlie. If that means I block the unsub too, have Rossi tell Edgerton and Sinclair to wait. I hope we can bring her in without a shot fired."

"I heard Morgan refer to it as your 'Freud at the Improv' act." Hotch gave a wry chuckle.

Reid echoed it. "First time I heard it was from you when we were trapped with Dowd."

"Nah. I do the 'I'm just like you act.' It's different." There was a small smile playing around his mouth.

"And we'll discuss the differences in more detail when I get back." He rested his hand on Aaron's shoulder, then turned and walked back to the staging area.

***  
She was five minutes late, pushing a wheelchair. Reid recognized her from her picture.

“I assume that’s Charlie,” he said into his headset.

“I’d feel better if I could see his face,” Liz said. 

“Me, too,” Reid said.

She stopped at the bottom of the wooden ramp, and looked around at the emptiness. Reid stepped out of the shadows and said, “Ms Cowan?”

“Take off that headset. Do you have a gun?”

They’d anticipated her demand. Reid was wired under his clothes which meant that he could signal the team, but couldn’t know what their response was. He removed the headset and put it on the boardwalk’s rail. “Is that all right?” He asked.

“Do you have a gun?” she repeated.

Reid turned around slowly. “My hip holster is empty,” he said and patted it so it flattened. “May I come your way? I want to see Professor Eppes.”

There was a long pause. “Walk slowly,” she said.

Reid held his hands out at his sides and began to cross the wide walkway. He was about to ask another question when she pulled the shawl that had been draped around Charlie’s head off him. Charlie blinked at the sunlight, but didn’t seem too bad. Reid thought shock from the loss of his finger was playing a part and hoped they could get him into an ambulance soon.

“Good to see you, Doctor Eppes.”

There was a woozy smile from Charlie. “It’s been awhile Doctor Reid.”

Jenny’s head snapped up. “You know him.”

“That’s why they trusted me to evaluate whether he’s here of his own free will. I know him.”

“You didn’t tell me.”

Reid smiled benignly. “You never gave me a chance to.”

“Stop right there.” She had a knife in her hand and held it near Charlie’s ear. 

Reid stopped. 

Another pause lengthened between them. Finally, Jenny said, “What do you need to leave me alone?”

“I need to look at Charlie’s hand and ask him a few questions. That’s all. If he’s here of his own free will, I’ll walk away and tell the FBI that the case is closed.”

He saw movement on the pylons under the ramp she’d come down and caught a glimpse of Morgan. He kept his face impassive. 

“Don’t get closer than three feet from him.”

Reid stepped to the side so that he was right in front of Charlie and walked forward until he was just over three feet away. He knelt in front of Charlie who had held his eyes the entire time.

Jenny moved the knife to point it at Reid who kept his hands spread.

“I’m going to reach for his left hand and have a look at it, all right, Jenny?” He could see that she was beginning to panic. “All I’m going to do is look at his hand. May I?”

She nodded her knife wavering between the two men. 

Reid nodded calmly and feinted a little to his left, bringing him closer to Charlie as he took his hand. The stump was clean, no infection apparent, though the raw look made Reid swallow hard so as not to throw up. 

“You said you could help me get rid of her influence. He’s mine not hers.”

Reid said, “Yes. I think I can help.” He pivoted and looked directly at her, one hand still holding Charlie’s. His move took her a further step away from Charlie and reduced the chance that the knife could nick his jugular. It also pulled her attention away from where he could see Morgan and Colby dripping behind her. 

Charlie moved, and Reid tugged his thumb to pull his focus. He blinked hard and then nodded. “It really is you, Spencer.”

“Yes, Charlie. It is.”

“Help me!” she demanded, just as Colby grabbed the wrist with the knife in it and locked it until her fingers went numb. Morgan stepped toward Reid and Charlie as Colby finished subduing her.

“Reid, you do _not_ want to know what’s floating under that pier,” Morgan said. 

“Is your headset working?”

“Yeah, kid. I’ve already got an ambulance coming for the professor. A secure car is coming for Ms Cowan, here.”

“Good.” Reid turned his attention back to Charlie. “I think you’re in shock. We’re getting you to the hospital as soon as we can. Don and your Dad will meet you there.”

“Amita?” Charlie asked a little hazily.

“She’s already in the ambulance, professor,” Morgan said as it came toward them on the boardwalk.

Charlie smiled. “I’m glad.” He reached over and patted Reid’s cheek with his right hand. “I’m going to marry her.”

“I know, Charlie. I got my invitation to your wedding.”

“Got a plus one?”

“Yeah, I’ll bring Hotch by to meet you.”

“That’s right. You’ve got a _boy_ friend.” Charlie seemed to find it hilarious.

“I do. He’s a good man.” 

The EMTs brought the gurney over and helped Charlie lie down on it. 

“Spencer?”

“Yes, Charlie?”

“I don’t remember her. She took three classes with me, she said, but I didn’t remember her. It made her mad.”

Reid squeezed his good hand and said, “Talk to your doctors about that, okay?” He passed Charlie’s hand to Amita who grinned widely. 

“It’s about time we met, Doctor Reid.”

“I promise. I’ll stop by the hospital, and we can meet properly later.”

“Do that,” she said, and let the EMTs help her into the back of the ambulance beside Charlie.

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter is the main story. There will be a little bit of follow up, and then an epilogue. Don't ask me when the other two chapters will be posted, but I hope before the new year.


End file.
